Beehive



ings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact speclficat-ion of .the same, wherein,

vJOHN H. DENNIS, OF BOSTON, `MASSACHUSETTS.

BEEHIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,445, dated anuary :24,

To all 'whom t may concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN H@ DENNIS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new andl useful Improvements in Beehives,v

and that the followingdescription, taken in connection with the yaccompanying draw- I have set forth the nature .and principles of my said improvements, by which my invention may be distinguished from others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured tof me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

Figure l is a plan or top view of my improved beehive, the upper cover being removed. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same taken in the plane of the line AB, Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken in the plane of the line CD, Fig. 1.

To those who are at all acquainted with the habits of bees it is well known that first they provide a sufficiency of honey for themselves, in the apartment in which they live, and afterward, if compartments be provided, will ll and as it were hermetica-lly seal up quantities of honey in these compartments. In rainy days and in early spring being prevented by the weather from obtainingvhoney from the flowers, they consume their own store, which on the return of favorable weather7 they first replenish before laboring on that in the other compartments. .It will thus be seen that a large proportion of the year is spent in feeding upon and in obtaining honey for their own immediate store, which if they could be fed from other sources would be devoted to increasing the quantity in the other compartments.

The main purpose and object o-f my improvements is so to feed them.

a a a in the drawings represents the hive, constructed as shown, or in any other suitable manner.

Z) b is the apartment where the bees live and have their own stores, and in which longitudinal bars 0 c are placed to the honey comb.

d, d, d, &c., are the lateral chambers provided for the stores of honey, which being separate from the main body of the hive supportlmaybe lremoved when full and emptied of their contents, glass slide doors being pro-- 1 vided for that purpose. When. removedjthe aperturesrf, f, j', &c.,by means of which the blees have access to allv parts of the hive, are closed vwith a piece of tin, vas is common, ,or'in any-y other suitable manner. In apart v,of thev hive to which all the bees may gain `access formed a chamber gg havingv a ,movable cover itl it, which contains my feedingj apparatus, constructed substantially as vfollQWsL-A box a' z'l of wood or metal, open at lthe top, is ,supported at such distance from'the Vifoor ofthe chamber and is offsuch dimensions-that the `bees-.may move readily under and aroundfthe'same between its sides and the sides of the chamber g g. The movable cover h lz, of the chamber forms the movable top of the box. Through this top this box, which serve as way of entrance to i the same for the bees.

I pour diluted West India honey or other sweet fluidthrough the pipe k le into the receptacle or box z' c', until it is sufficiently full. The float m, it will be seen, will rise with and lremain on the surface of the fluid poured in. The-bees coming from all parts of the hive lenter the box i c' through the apertures 0, o, and standing on the float (the undersides of which arebeveled to facilitate the operation) feed from the honey around its edges.

In hives heretofore constructed no means have been devised by which the ,bees could be fed continuously. By my improvements I not only am able to feed them continuously, but it is so simple that a child may feed them, and by means of the pipe lo 7c so cleanly that none of the food will be dripped upon the bees. In summer, or when the bees can obtain honey from without, a solid block of wood may be fitted into the chamber g g, .in place of the feeding apparatus.

In my new hive I have also combined another improvement, which is intended to which I term the moth trap. This bee-f moth, if not prevented, .Will enter the hive and deposit its eggs in the cells of the honey comb. The Worms When hatched from these eggs devour the honey around them. 'Io protect the honey from the ravages of these moths I have devised the following trap: In some suitable part of the hive, I construct a chamber p p (having a movable cover u) connected with the outside of the hive by a pipe g leading through the aperture fr. In this chamber is placed a vessel s, containing molasses and Water, sour milk or other at-` tractive fluid. The moth hovering about the hive is repelled from the only real entrance at t, by the sentinel bees, and is attracted to the entrance of the trap, the aperture r. Having once entered the chamber p p the moth Will not easily find its Way outagain. As the pipe g, through which his ingress is made, is of a conical or tapering shape, and` as all moths are small at their heads, With Wings Which spread out very considerably, it is plain that with such an arrangement of the parts, with the attractive fluid in the Yclose chamber 2'? While the ingress of moths Will be comparatively easy, his egress is almost impossible and his destruction certain.`

It .will be seen that the cover u of the chamber p p may be removed, and the vessels taken out and cleansed Whenever necessary, the pipe g being Withdrawn during the operation.

Having thus described my improvements in beehivyes, I shall state my claims, as follows:

lVhat I claim as my invention, and `desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent, is-

A moth-trap consisting of close chamber, having no communication Withthe rest of the hive, and in Which may be placed a vessel containing some fluid attractive to the bee-moth, in combination With a conical or tapering entrance tube as herein aboveset forth. y

' J. I-I.v DENNIS.

lVitness'es:

EZRA LINCOLN, Ronn'r L. HARRIS. 

